Stop motion for braiding machines



July 20,1926.- 1,593,311

G. A. RUSSELL STOP MOTION FDR BRAIDING MACHINES Filed March '27, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 52 o o 5 I (ZZZ 2f. 7214,

July 20 ,1926. 1,593,311

G. A. RUSSELL STOP MOTION FOR BRAIDING MACHINES Filed March 27, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 30 k v Z0 29 ,19 31 1a 0 6790a? HI Russell .B/ war-720) Patented July 26,

orre.

enonen A. RUSSELL, or MILLBIT'RY, MAssa-en'osnrms.

s'ror Mow-ion Fen Banrmne M-AorrInEs.

Application filed March 27, 1925; Sriai No. 18,740.

My invention relates to braiding machines and has for its object to provide av stop motion which is adap'ted to arrest the pro duotion of braid having imperfections caused by the incorporation of slubs or other fen eign particles in the braid. According to my invention, the stop motion is entirely independent of the braiding point or gauging eye of the machine in the sense that it will operate without disturbing the position of the braiding point and therefore, without altering the character oi the braid being produced. As will hereinafter appear, my stop motion is adapted to stop the machine immediately after the passage of braid containing a slub, particle or enlarged portion through the gauging eye.

Another object of my invention is to provide a stop motion that is also adapted to stop a machine in order to call the tention of the operator to the fact that braid having previously detected imperfections, is about to be wound on the takeup reel of the machine. By my invention, the machine is automatically stopped at a predetermined point for unwinding the defective length, and the operator is thus relieved of the neces si y of constant watchtulness of a partied lar machine that m ay have made an undetermined short length of defective braid from any cause.

its hereinafter pointed out, my invention may be readily applied to a standard type b iding machine without substantial a'ltera- I tion thereof, the essential parts of such a machine being shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a View in front elevation of a braiding machine with my improved stop motion applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan View, partly in section, showing the connection of the stop motion to the control device of the machine.

Fig. Bis a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. i is an elevation of 'aportion of the mechanism shown inFig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged View of aportion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the det'octor employed above the braiding point.

7 is an enlarged plan View of the detector employed above the reel.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view 8 8 of Flg. 7

Flg. 9 is a fragmentary View showing a along the line portion of the stop motion, on an enlarged dorm-sno part "of my present invention, but

is described in United States M l,O@8,50',1 issued to Simon W. Wa rdwell. According to the above mentioned patent, the braiding machine is driven from a pulley '6 provided with a clutch mechanism; and "the present invention contemplates a stop motion cooperating with this clutch mecha- Patent No.

. IllSdH to bring the moving parts of the machme to a quick story through operation of brake device 7,. see Fig; 2.

Referring, to Fig. 2; an arm 8 is adapted to operate the clutch mechanism; referred to, and in the position of parts shown in Fig. 2, the clutch is in the engaged position. Movement of the 8 in the direction shown by the small arrow is adapted to disengage the clutch mechanism. The end of the-arm 8 is connected by a pin 9' to a short arm 10 ofa control-ling lever or shipper 11, the latter beingv fulc'ru-med on a stud 12' extending up from a boss 13' which projects t rom the frame 1 oi the machine; A second lever 1-4 i-s' alsonpivoted on the stud 12 above the leverl l and is formed with tWoarms 15 and 16 At the end of the arm 15' is an upwardly extending pin 17 on which is pivoted a detent latch 1=8.- The latch 18 arovides a3 shoulder which is ad-arpte to engage a detent pin 20350ne side of which is squared oft for this purpose, and the latch held in engagement with the pin 20 by a spring anchored to 2. lug 22 on the lever 14-. One endof a spring 23 is connected to the freegend of arm 16' of lever 14, the other end 01. spring 23 being anchored to a fixed stud 23. The spring 23 is strong enough to disengage the clutch mechanism, as will now be described.

Themanually operated controlling lever 11 is connected to operate the lever 14 by means of a pin 24 extending up from a boss on an arm 25 of said lever 11 and projecting through a hole 26 in the arm 15, see Fig. 3. A clearance for the pin 24 is provided in the hole 26, so that the lever 11 can be moved a slight distance without moving the lever 14. The pin 24 is also adapted to engage a lug 27 projecting from the hub of the latch 18. When the lever 11 is turned in the direction of the small arrow, Fig. 2, the pin 24 first engages the lug 27 and rocks the latch 18 to free its shoulder 19 from the pin 20. As soon as the latch 18 is free from its detent pin 20, the spring 23 acts to move the lever 14 and so, acting through the pin 24, moves the lever 11 still further in the direction of the arrow .7), which movement, by means of the pin 9, moves the arm 8 in the direction of the arrow to disengage the clutch. The detent latch 18 is also adapted to be released through instrumentalities clearly described in the above mentioned patent, whenever the yarn is exhausted or breaks, on any one of the carriers composing the yarn supplies 2 and 3. For the purpose of the present invent1on,.1t 1s sufficient to state that when any individual end of ferred to, and the other yarn breaks or runs out, a feeler rod carried by one of'the revolving turrets which carries the yarn supplies 2 and 3, is lowered into the path of one or more upwardly extending lever arms 28 and by means thereof moves the brake ring 7 a slight distance in the direction of the arrow.

, he brake ring 7 is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 2.by a spring 29, one end of which engages the pin 17 already re end of which engages a pin 30 on a tripping block 31 at tached to the brake ring. Then the brake ring 7 is moved, as described above, the inclined corn-er of the tripping block 31 engages a similar inclined corner on the detent latch 18 and so forces it outwardly and re leases it from the pin 20. This action will, of course, disengage the driving clutch as already explained, and at the same time the latch 18 will move away from the tripping block 31 under the influence of the spring 23, thus removing the pressure of the spring 29 from the pin 30 on block 31, and leaving the brake ring 7 free to stop the momentum of the revolving turrets by a wedging action which need not be described here.

The mechanism thus far described, while forming no part of the present invention, has been gone into in considerable detail because my improved stop motion perfectly cooperates with it in the attainment of the desired results, and my mechanism is so organized that it can be readily applied to existing machines of the above described type.

Referring to Fig. 1, the main frame 1 of the machine provides a pair of spaced standards 32 attached to the back of the machine, and a single standarc 33 at the side. A bracket 34 is attached to a shaft 35 extend ing between the standards 32, and this bracket receives a bolt 36, at the end of which the gauging plate 5 is secured by nuts 37, as shown in Fig. 5. A detector 38 is disposed directly above the top surface of the gaugeye plate 5, and this detector 38 has a lurality of holes 39 therein, as shown in Fig. 6. The detector 38 is attached by means of a bolt 40 passing through a slot 41 to a connecting rod 42, the lower end of which is headed over to receive the bolt 40. The connecting rod 42 passes through a hole in an arm 43 which is attached to the bracket 34 by means of the bolt 36 and a nut 44.

The upper end of connecting rod 42 is bent over at right angles and passes through a slot 45 in a lever 46. A bracket 47 is attached to the standard 33 and one end of tlis bracket 47 receives a split rod 48 having a plurality of holes 49 through the split portion. The lever 46 is carried on a pivot pin passing through one of the holes 49, and the rod 48 may be adjusted in a vertical direction by means of a set screw 48. A second connecting rod 50 is attached to the lever 46 by a pivotal connection 51, and this rod passes through a slot in an extension of the bracket 47.

As best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the lower end of the rod 50 is bent over and pivotally connected to a lever 52 extending towards the clutch control. devices. A bracket attached to the frame 1 by means of bolts 54 passing through slots and the lever 52 is pivotally attached to this bracket 53 by means of pivot bolt The bracket has a longitudinal slot 56 in its upright portion and this slot receives one end of a bent lever 57. The other end of the bent lever 57 is pivotally mounted on the pin 17, on which the detent latch 18 is also mounted, as previously described. The lever 57 carries a roller 58 thereon, and this roller 58 is pressed against the bracket 53 by means of a spring 59 surrounding the lever 57 between a washer 60 and the roller 58. Thus the periphery of the roller 58 is maintained in operative engagement with a cam or wedging surface 61 of the lever 52. A pin 62 on the lever 57 is adapted to engage the tip end 63 of the do tent latch 18.

In the operation of the machine as thus far described, the detector 38 is clamped to the connecting rod 42 by means of the bolt 40 and adjustment slot 41, in such a position that one of the holes 39 in the plate will be over the eye in the plate 5, through which the. braid passes. Usually itlis desirable to employ .a hole 3 9 slightly smaller than: the hole in the gauging plate 5, but a hole of exactly the same size may be used under certain. conditions, The hole: selected sets the limit thickness. of the braid, and any portion of the: braid which will not go through this hole will cause the machine to stop.

Assuming a slub, or piece of foreign'mat ter of any description, becomes caught in the yarn,- and "is incorporated in the braid as it forms at the brai dl ing point, the enlarge m ent thus produced will be drawn through the fixedgauging plate but will fail to pass through the hole 39- of the yieldab le detector 38. The braid will then exert a lifting effect upon tie detector 38 which will be transmitted into vertical movement of rod 42' and clockwise turning movement of lever 416. Movement of the leverd tfi is transmitted to the lever 52 by the rod 50, thus raising the. inclined or wedging surface 61 as shown in dotted lines. This shifts the rol'ler 58 and its lever 57 to the left, whereupon the pin 62 presses against the end '63- of the detent latch 18", thus releasing the clutch. and applying the brake as described. A very powerful force is exerted on thcdctent latch 18- in response to a very slight lifting force at the detector 38, by reason oftlre fact that "the overheadlever 26' is pivoted so that its long end is the motion receiving end and its short end is the motion transmitting end. The same is true of the lever 52, even to a more marked extent. The force exerted on the lever 5'?" is still further increased by the wedgi-ng or camming action of the surface 61, while the pin 62 that aetuates the detent' latch 18 is very close to the pivot 17' that holds both. the detent l8 and thel'ever 57. Thus a very slight lifting force on the detector 3 8 is sulii'cilentto release the latch 18 and stop the machine;

When the detent' latch 18 moved the machine, it swings toward the: bracket 53 by reason ofthe spring 23. The pivot pin. '17? is carried in the same direction, but this in noway throws the parts out of adjustment, for the roller 58 still stays in contact with the surface 61. The spring 59 allows the lever rod 57 to move and to re turn to its former position without disarrangement when the operator moves the shipper 11 and starts the machine again.

In the operation of the machine for forming different sizes of braid, it is necessary to set the gauging plate 5 which determines the braiding point at different levels, and when making such adjustments, the provision of the several holes 49 in the vertically adjustable rod 48 permits the fulcrum of the lever 46 to be properly adjusted for different locations of the braiding point, as

to stop is evident from Figs; 1 and 9. Furthen more, the different sized holes 3 9 the detector 38 permits the necessary adjustment of this member to receive: different sizes :of braid In making the above described adjustmexits. of. the mechanism, the elongated slot 415 in the lever 46 permits a certain amount of play for the end of the rod 42,. although normally the end of the rod a2 is positioned in. a recess; 4:5? provided in the upper e-l e. of the slot 45, as shown Fig. 9. finder some conditions of operation, it. may be -cl1esirable to permit slight imperfections to pass "the: detector without stopping the machine, and to this-end an adjustable weight 64 is provided on the lever 46' in order to vary the degree of 1ifting force required to be exerted on the detector 38- in order to stop tl ie machine.

As previously pointed out, my invention contemplates a mechanism which is not only adapted to automatically stop the machine upon the incorporation of a slub or other enlargement in the braid, but is also adapted to automatically stop the machine; when braid having a previously detected imperfection is about to be wound on the take-up reel of the machine. lit is known that imperfect braid results from other causes than the incorporation of slubs in the braid, as for example, by the breakage of the yarn supply which results the: formation of braid having an insufficient number of strands. Obviously, such imperfect braid, being of reduced size, passes through the detector 38, so that by the time the operator discovers that such braid is being made, a considerable length of it may have been formed. In braiding machines equipped with means for sizing and then drying the braid before "winding it on the takeup reel, it is impracticable to unwind imperfect braid of an indeterminate length, and my improved stop mechanism provides means whereby the machine will be automatically stopped when the last end of the imperfect length of braid is about to pass. onto the reel.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the newly formed braid is passed through a box '65 containing sizing or glue, after which it is exposed to the atmosphere for a considerable time before being wound on the take-up reel 66 for the purpose of drying the same. As shown herein the drying devices consist of a number of sets of pulleys 67, 68 and 69, which are so arranged as to receive braid from a pulley 7 0 in the box and carry it a considerable distance before it is wound on the take-up reel 66. Before the braid is wound on the reel 66 from the top pulley 68, it passes through a detector 71 which, as best shown in Fig. 7, is in the form of a disk provided With a plurality of different sized holes 72. In order to allow for the necessary traversing motion of the braid as it is wound on the reel 66, the detector 71 is adapted to slide on a slotted arm 73, this arm being embraced by a slide T l on which the detector 71 is pivotally mounted by means of a screw 7 5 which extends into the slot 73 The detector 71 is provided with a number of peripheral notches 77 and a pin 76, or other suit-able holding device, is provided to cooperate with the notches 77 and thereby maintain the various holes 72 in register with the slot 73. In this way the proper hole 72 can be brought into register with the slot 73 to receive braid of the corresponding size. A collar 78 carried by the rod 50 maintains the arm 73 in the proper position and at the same time permits it to turn freely.

When in the operation of the machine the attendant discovers that the machine has been making imperfect braid of indeterminate length of such a nature that it passed through the detector 38, e. undersized braid, the machine is stopped and a marker is placed on the braid above the first detector 38, after which the operation of the ma chine is resumed with the diflicultv corrected. The attendant need pay no further attention tothis'particular machine until the marker has traversed all of the pulleys 6?, 68 and 69 and encounters the detector '71 in its downward movement to the reel 66. The resulting downward movement of the rod 50 immediately stops the machine in the same manner as the machine is stopped by functioning of the detector 38, whereupon the attention of the attendant is called to the fact that the marker has reached the detector 71. The length of imperfect braid may then be readily removed from the take-up reel 66 without in any way interfering with the considerable length of perfect braid then on the pulleys 67, 68 and 69, after which the ends of the perfect braid may be pieced together below the detector 71 and the operation of the machine resumed. By this antomatic stoppage of the machine just before the end of an imperfect length is about to be wound on the reel 66, it is possible to prevent the imperfect braid from being hidden on the reel and not being discovered until after subsequent steps in the finishing of the braid have been carried out.

From the foregoing then it is apparent that by my invention I have provided an improved stop mechanism for braiding machines, whereby the incorporation of such imperfections as slubs, or other foreign mat ter, in the braid, automatically causes the machine to stop, so that such imperfec tions may be removed. Furthermore, my improved stop mechanism is also adapted to prevent the winding of lengths of imperfect braid on the take-up reel. lVhile my improved mechanism has been described in connection with a particular type of braiding machine, it is not so limited as the principle thereof is applicable to other types of braiding machines equipped with devices for disconnecting the machines from the source of power.

I claim 1. In a braiding machine, the combination with means for sizing and drying the braid before winding it upon a take-up reel, of deteetors adapted to be operated by an enlargement in the moving braid either as it passes to said sizing and drying means, or to sail reel, and means operated by said dotectors for stopping the machine.

2. In a braiding machine, the combination with means for sizing and drying the braid before winding it upon a take-up reel, of a detector adapted to be operated by an enlargement in the moving braid as it passes from said sizing and drying means to said reel, said detector being capable of following the traversing movement of the braid as it winds on the reel.

8. In a braiding machine, a clutch mechanism and a latch holding saidclutch mechanism in engaged position, in combination with a detector having an orifice and adapted to be operated by an enlargement in a moving strand passing therethrough, and means including a camming surface to release said latch in response solely to the moving force of said strand.

Dated this 23rd day of March, 1925.

GEORGE A. RUSSELL. 

